Dreaming Contexts
by AllAboardtheSSVNormandy
Summary: Skulduggery woke, curled up on his side around the Escort Sphere. He did not remember his dream, but that was for the best. He felt rather sticky and that was never a good sign; he could only hope that he hadn't screamed.
1. In Which Teenagers Name a World

Erik sweeped his hand at the horizon as though presenting a prize at the end of a wearying race. A purple breeze stirred his sunny hair and continued its dance into the mountains behind them. A man lay in a meadow and dreamed of flowers. A dark girl tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled.

"Okay, among all the places we have gone, this is one of the best. What do we call it?" She asked.

Erik smiled blissfully. The problem in this world was rather obvious. "I was thinking 'Heavenland'."

"Didn't we already name a world that?"

"Oh, that's right. Was it the one with the singing flowers or the one where everybody could fly around when they were asleep?"

"I think it was the second one. How about calling this one 'Technicolorspace'?"

It was, indeed very colorful. Scentless pollen seemed to float on every breeze, making it easy to tell where the wind was headed while making it very difficult to see very far into the distance. The sky was stunningly blue, almost bordering on violet, and the sun was nowhere to be seen.

Erik craned his head backwards, looking for a sign of pixellation. "Do you think this one will be all a computer simulation, like Chessworld?"

Stephanie shrugged. "Who cares? It's kind of bright for my tastes. I liked Ravensphere more."

The man in the meadow stirred. Erik turned, just enough to check if he was awake yet. He wasn't, it was rather windy, and he was hogging the only source of warmth they had, but they were fine with that for now. If it got darker they might risk sharing it. For now Skulduggery could sleep in peace.

In the meantime, they would scout and taunt him about his apparent narcolepsy when he woke.

"I have a new name," Erik said.

"Acidtrip?" Stephanie asked.

"Well, it was actually something more like WaltDisney'sWorstNightmare but I guess Acidtrip works a lot better."

Her eyes darted to the edge of the cliff and pointed. "Stairs, look."

"Alright, let's go."

They went.

On another unnamed world, a young woman heard her name for the first time. She made an oath. However, oaths made by this particular young woman, in any of her forms, tended to be broken at the drop of a hat.

* * *

AN: For those of you who are wondering, "What the hell is this and is it even in the right category?" I assure you, it is. You will see.


	2. In Which the Main Character Speaks

Fingers dragged his hair out of his face. Knives brushed his sides and a fire burned itself into his stomach. The back of his neck itched and his feet were cold.

Skulduggery woke, curled up on his side around the Escort Sphere. He did not remember his dream, but that was for the best. He felt rather sticky and that was never a good sign; he could only hope that he hadn't screamed.

He sat, looking around. A Skulduggery-shaped dent had been bruised into the dark blue grass... or was it just a trick of the light?

"Light?" He asked softly. The Sphere began to glow the same volume as his voice. The grass was indeed blue. That meant that the trees to his right were actually as green and grey as he thought they were- Green trunks and grey leaves. The sky itself was a sort of very dark velvet.

"I've been weirder places," he decided. After a moment, he continued with his monologue. "Although, most of those places were visited with the help of recreational drugs. I'm fairly certain I wasn't drugged this time because nothing is dancing or singing."

The Sphere didn't reply to him. He smiled at it fondly, drawing it into his lap. Despite the cheeriness of the night, it was rather cold. "Do you know where Darky and Bowman got off to?" He asked politely.

It purred, the inner mechanisms whirring in concentric circles for a moment or two. A small arrow floated to the surface. He turned to his left, expecting to see a road or perhaps a city.

Instead, he saw twenty feet of blue grass, five feet of red dirt, and many feet of drop-off.

He shuffled to the edge of it cautiously. "Please don't tell me that they fell off of this and are now being eaten by some gigantic yellow and orange spiders."

There was no vibration from his hands. He looked at the Sphere in disappointment. "Are they hurt?"

The arrow glowed green for a moment, before shifting slightly.

He had a brilliant plan, which he enacted immediately. "Set relative bearings." He turned so the cliff was on his left. "This direction is north. In what direction are the kids?"

"NWxW," the Sphere showed.

"That isn't helpful at all," Skulduggery said reproachfully, shaking a finger at it. It glowed a soft green in reprimand.

"NW," the Sphere corrected. "NxW."

"Yeah, not helping. Do the arrow thing again."

It did the arrow thing again. This time it was angled to his left and slightly downwards. Skulduggery peeked off the side of the cliff, then smiled. "Well aren't they clever."

For all his brainpower, he hadn't noticed the trail by his side. It was very well disguised, without a sign to mark where it began or to show where it led.

Skulduggery sat down on it, marking where it was for future reference.

* * *

A/N: You may have noticed that Skulduggery is acting a little bit crazy. This is because he is crazy.


	3. In Which There is Eating

"You kids are spoiling me," Skulduggery mumbled around a mouthful of golden bread. Darky and Eric had found what they were here for, dragged him to it, and then sat him down in front of a picnic.

The little old woman across from him looked rather nervous. This lanky man that talked to no one in particular didn't carry any weapons. He didn't look particularly strong. He didn't even own a jacket of his own and his pants weren't waterproof.

But what he DID have was far more deadly. Namely, a stomach full of food, a head full of crazy ideas, and two teenagers that would guard his body until death.

He stopped chewing and swallowed with some difficulty. "Now, Miss..."

"Mrs. Wheately," the grandma filled in.

"Miss Wheately, I understand that your grandson is going to be sacrificed to the water elemental to stop the flood?"

"...Yes. He was one of the adepts on the riverside regulation team, and when the water rose..." She drew in a shuddering breath. "He was the only one left alive."

"So they're going to kill him." Eric did not look impressed.

"Of course they are! He's bad luck," Mrs. Wheatley said. She was shocked that they even considered leaving such a harbinger alive.

Stephanie winced. So we're not here to bring her grandson home, she thought. We're here to placate this water elemental or whatever.

Skulduggery reached for a neon pink fruit. "May I?"

* * *

A/N: The plot thickens!


End file.
